ROSENBERG, Texas – Parents say artwork by first-grader Lyric Luna usually included the sun, hearts and rainbows.
But when the 7-year-old’s mother said she saw a drawing as they started homework on Monday, she said she was concerned.
"Her crying and getting stepped on. You know, it's not normal to see,” said Angelica Reyes.
The drawing indicated the teacher slapped the child in the face and purposefully stepped on her foot. Lyric’s mother said her daughter used her own spelling and illustrated a big foot on a small one and a hand on a crying face to show her pain.
The image left Lyric’s mother in tears.
"She said that the teacher did slap her and then stepped on her. It's hard for me as a mom. I don't want to hear that from your kids," Reyes said.
Reyes said she asked her daughter about the drawing. She said Luna said she was hit by a substitute math teacher at Bowie Elementary School in Lamar Consolidated Independent School District in Rosenberg.
"Right now we know the teacher isn't going to be subbing at that school anymore. But if my daughter got slapped, what makes me think another kid won't get slapped or another child?” Lyric’s father, Johnny Luna, said.
A spokesman for the school district said the district is aware of the claim, but because of student privacy, he said he cannot comment on specifics of the case. He said administrators have met with the family in what he called an ongoing investigation. He said the teacher has been removed from the classroom as is routine in an investigation like this.
The Rosenberg Police Department confirmed it is in the early stages of an investigation into the claims by the 7-year-old student.